You already know that stretching is vital. It improves flexibility and mobility (one of many key elements of health) and reduces the danger of harm. And in the event you don’t stretch, the muscle groups can shorten and develop into tight, which might restrict your vary of movement and put you in danger for joint ache or a pulled muscle.
However stretching is simply useful if it’s executed accurately. There are just a few widespread stretching errors that may result in the precise reverse of what you’re searching for, reminiscent of harm and inflexibility. Listed below are eight pitfalls to keep away from so you’ll be able to enhance your flexibility and your exercises.
1. You’re Doing the Mistaken Kind of Stretching
There are two fundamental varieties of stretching: static and dynamic. Static stretching is what you in all probability bear in mind from fitness center class: regularly stretching a muscle and holding a pose for about 30 seconds. Whereas it is a nice solution to settle down from a exercise or improve normal flexibility, analysis means that static stretching earlier than a energy exercise may very well trigger a lower in efficiency.
“Throughout a warm-up, you need to do dynamic stretching, which reinforces muscle activation and prepares muscle groups to be highly effective by a full vary of movement,” says Trevor Thieme, CSCS. Dynamic stretches embody lunges, trunk rotations, leg swings, and leaping rope.
For the post-exercise “cool-down” interval, you’ll be able to deal with static stretching to loosen up the muscle groups and launch rigidity. “Each varieties of stretching might help improve mobility,” Thieme says. “However one excites muscle groups whereas the opposite calms them down.”
2. You’re Bouncing Whereas Stretching
Utilizing momentum from bouncing to pressure a muscle to stretch previous its regular vary (a.ok.a. ballistic stretching) might really feel prefer it’s serving to you improve your vary of movement. However as an alternative of loosening the muscle, this kind of speedy stretching motion can really trigger the muscle groups to tighten — a contraction often called the myotatic reflex or “stretch reflex.” This will result in accidents like muscle or tendon tears, Thieme says.
3. You’re Stretching Injured Muscle tissue
Stretching injured muscle groups is “a giant no-no,” Thieme warns. Muscle strains sometimes occur when a muscle is stretched past its restrict, so stretching it additional can worsen the harm. As a substitute, use the POLICE protocol (safety, optimum loading, ice, compression, and elevation) to assist the muscle heal.
4. You’re Overstretching
Whereas some discomfort is to be anticipated, you must by no means be in ache whereas stretching. “Overstretching can lead to muscle strains or extreme neural rigidity [stretching of the nerves],” says Lindsay Sudell, MOT, OTR/L, CFSS-3, CPT of Merely Stretch LA.
Overstretching can even result in hypermobility, “which is when a joint is just too unfastened and thus unstable,” Thieme says. Know your limits if you’re stretching, and don’t pressure your self to transcend them.
5. You’re Not Stretching Persistently
It’s going to take various sporadic stretching classes to realize the pliability of a gymnast. Ideally, your stretching classes must be reasonable and frequent slightly than intense and occasional.
“With the intention to obtain bodily, everlasting change, stretching should be constant for six to eight weeks,” says Sudell.
6. You’re Dashing Via Your Stretches
“Individuals typically don’t stretch for the suitable length of time,” explains Sudell. She recommends aiming for 30 seconds or much less for pre-exercise stretches. For post-workout static stretching, goal to carry every stretch for at the least 60 seconds.
7. You’re Not Doing Sport-Particular Stretches
Sport-specific stretches “may be something focused towards actions {that a} specific athlete wants,” Sudell says. For instance, she says, golfers might deal with stretches that enhance their spinal rotation and hip mobility, to allow them to hit the ball with maximal energy. Sprinters can heat up with dynamic stretches that simulate operating and explosive actions, like strolling lunges, butt kicks, and excessive knees.
Analysis additionally exhibits that static stretches are higher fitted to athletes who want flexibility (like gymnasts or dancers), whereas dynamic stretches are particularly useful for individuals who must run or bounce (like basketball gamers or runners).
8. You’re Ignoring Your Respiratory
Deep, diaphragmatic respiratory “might help loosen up tense muscle groups, and when paired with stretching, can permit for a fair deeper stretch with out growing the danger of harm,” Thieme says.
As well as, respiratory enhances the therapeutic impact of stretching, Sudell says. Analysis exhibits that diaphragmatic respiratory can assist the physique recuperate after an intense exercise. The correct solution to breathe throughout a stretch is to slowly inhale by the nostril, maintain for a second, then launch the breath by both the mouth or nostril, retaining the diaphragm and stomach mushy and relaxed.
